There’s a hangover factor, a grace period when an opponent — let’s call it Alcorn State — plays better for a while than the home team.

You knew, too, that eventually these streaking Cyclones would snap out of their funk. All those shots they missed in the first half? You knew they’d start falling sometime before Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. game against Northern Iowa at Wells Fargo Arena.

And just like we all predicted, this was one of those games in which Iowa State didn’t look very Iowa State-like for most of the first 20 minutes.

And just like we figured, the Cyclones would be 7-2 heading into Saturday’s game in downtown Des Moines.

It just took a while — and sometimes that happens with experienced teams, as well as the youthful outfit that Steve Prohm coaches.

“You can’t de-value winning, but our performance wasn’t very good,” Prohm said. “We talked the last two days about not having a letdown — not having a setback, and really trying to fight against that.”

This one’s start was so annoying that Prohm called a timeout just 90 seconds after Alcorn won the tip.

He’s not usually an early timeout guy, but when an opponent that lost by 40 against LSU, by 37 against Creighton, by 28 against UNI, by 17 against Baylor and by 16 against Tulane has you stuck 8-zip — well, you call timeout.

Larry Eustachy, if you remember, called occasional timeouts within the first 15 seconds of some games. Prohm usually lets his guys play through badness, but Sunday was different.

He’d seen enough, so he rightly decided it was time for a chat.

“In the first half, we didn’t play with energy,” said Donovan Jackson, who scored 16 of his 25 points during his team’s 45-point second half.

“The second half, we knew we couldn’t get beat on our floor, so we had to turn it up.”

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Iowa State's Cameron Lard gets a dunk in the final seconds of the first half during the Iowa State men's basketball game against Alcorn State on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Hilton Coliseum.
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Iowa State's Cameron Lard celebrates after getting a dunk in the final seconds of the first half during the Iowa State men's basketball game against Alcorn State on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Hilton Coliseum.
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Iowa State coach Steve Prohm walks on to the court for a timeout during the Iowa State men's basketball game against Alcorn State on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Hilton Coliseum.
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Iowa State coach Steve Prohm reacts after an Alcorn State player makes a wide open dunk during the Iowa State men's basketball game against Alcorn State on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones bet Alcorn State 78-58. In the post game news conference Coach Prohm said, "Sometimes you can win, but mentally you donÕt come out victorious."
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Iowa State's Lindell Wigginton shoots a layup during the Iowa State men's basketball game against Alcorn State on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones bet Alcorn State 78-58.
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Iowa State cheerleaders fave flags that spell Cyclones before the Iowa State men's basketball game against Alcorn State on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones bet Alcorn State 78-58.
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Iowa State's Donovan Jackson brings the ball down the court during the Iowa State men's basketball game against Alcorn State on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones bet Alcorn State 78-58.
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Iowa State's Cameron Lard dunks the ball during the Iowa State men's basketball game against Alcorn State on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones bet Alcorn State 78-58.
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Iowa State's Jeff Beverly shoots the ball during the Iowa State men's basketball game against Alcorn State on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones bet Alcorn State 78-58.
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Iowa State's Cameron Lard and Hans Brase celebrate after Lard makes a dunk in the final seconds of the first half during the Iowa State men's basketball game against Alcorn State on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones bet Alcorn State 78-58.
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Iowa State's Lindell Wigginton passes the ball during the Iowa State men's basketball game against Alcorn State on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones bet Alcorn State 78-58.
Kelsey Kremer/The Register

Iowa State's Cameron Lard makes a shot during the Iowa State men's basketball game against Alcorn State on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones bet Alcorn State 78-58.
Kelsey Kremer/The Register

Iowa State's Donovan Jackson shoots a three-point-shot during the Iowa State men's basketball game against Alcorn State on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones bet Alcorn State 78-58.
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Iowa State coach Steve Prohm talks to Lindell Wigginton during the Iowa State men's basketball game against Alcorn State on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones bet Alcorn State 78-58.
Kelsey Kremer/The Register

Iowa State coach Steve Prohm reacts to his teams mistakes during the Iowa State men's basketball game against Alcorn State on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones bet Alcorn State 78-58. In the post game news conference Coach Prohm said, "Sometimes you can win, but mentally you donÕt come out victorious."
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Iowa State's Nick Weiler-Babb high-fives fans after the game during the Iowa State men's basketball game against Alcorn State on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones bet Alcorn State 78-58.
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After shooting 36 percent in the first half, Iowa State warmed up to 44 percent over the final 20 minutes. Its second-half 3-point shooting picked up to 50 percent (7 of 14).

“We just have to embrace and come ready to play,” Jackson said.

The Cyclones won their seventh game in a row, and that’s all that counts. Seven consecutive victories is the second-longest streak since Prohm has been the coach. The longest is nine, during the 2015-16 season.

His vision extends only to the next film session and the next practice. This team isn’t good enough to look much past that — even if it is Northern Iowa on the other end of the floor Saturday as part of the Hy-Vee Classic.

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Iowa State cheerleaders fave flags that spell Cyclones before the Iowa State men's basketball game against Alcorn State on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones bet Alcorn State 78-58. (Photo: Kelsey Kremer/The Register)

“You can talk about the energy and you can talk about a lot of different things, but our margin for error is this,” Prohm said, showing the short distance between his thumb and pointer finger.

It wasn’t just lackadaisical early in the game. There were moments of goodness during a first half in which Iowa State made 11 of 30 field-goal attempts, including only 4 of 14 from 3-point range.

Hans Brase soared out of nowhere to tip in a missed shot. There were three shot-clock violations for Alcorn State in the first 13 minutes of game play.

Nick Weiler-Babb fired a nifty transition pass to Cameron Lard for an in-stride dunk that barely beat the first-half horn for a 33-32 Iowa State lead.

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Iowa State's Cameron Lard gets a dunk in the final seconds of the first half during the Iowa State men's basketball game against Alcorn State on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Hilton Coliseum. (Photo: Kelsey Kremer/The Register)

Weiler-Babb, by the way, had nine assists. His 10-or-more helpers streak ended at four games.

Mostly, though, the first half was one big Cy-Hawk bore.

All that changed after the break, just like we knew it would. Iowa State’s one-point advantage quickly reached 10 before Alcorn State scored.

It just took a while for it all to start happening.

Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson has been with the Register for parts of five decades. Randy writes opinion and analysis of Iowa State football and basketball. You can reach Randy at rpeterson@dmreg.com or on Twitter at @RandyPete.